exactly...

that's not true. i know lots of kids who smoke weed who aren't fat.

Although i wouldn't know personally. I've never done a drug in my life.

man drugs are lame..


eff that......

well, it gives you "munchies", i suppose. it doesn't exactly make you fat, though.

eh i dunno. some who does weed for mmmmaaaaannnnnyyyy years would probably get fat after all those munchies.

Why are you so determined to make it legal? Do you smoke it or something?

If that means yes, then you might possibly be defending yourself and trying to make yourself feel better about being addicted to it.

If not, then I don't know wtf you're talking about. Why should you even care about whether Marijuana is legal or not if you don't smoke it.

Now give me your answer please. One or the other. You are fighting an uphill battle my friend. Alone.

Edit: The Aztecs and Mayans chewed coke leaves wayback then. They haven't been damaged, but the Coke in the leaves are actually safe. Almost comparable to a coffee break in the US.

It's the transformation that intensifies and singles the chemical out that makes it dangerous. Maybe if people just chewed marijuana leaves...lol...

wow Xyberforce. That was quite a rant haha.

Nah, his rant was a bit bigger.

haha true. he's quite determined

You are such a hypocrite.

You have obviously been smoking some of Andy's mum's crack.

good shit brah

Thats like saying "Why should you care that we are in a war in Iraq... unless you're a soldier fighting in it"

I'm a very casual marijuana smoker, maybe once or twice a month, and my smoking of it has nothing to do with why I think it should be legal except for of course I think its okay thats why I smoke it. The point is the government has absolutely no right to tell us what we can and can't do in that manner, especially the federal government, its not written in the constitution anywhere. To be honest the argument should not even get *near* the "health issues" (most of which are positive, with few negative effects.) I'm not fighting an uphill battle, there have been multiple legalization movements in this country kiddo, in the 70s, of course the state medical marijuana and decriminalization movements currently. There is a reason carrying anything under an ounce across the country is like getting a speeding ticket, and in some places under a few grams there is no punishment at all. In san fransisco they will not stop you for smoking a joint on the street. At the rate legalization and decriminilaztion, and depending on the next president Marijuana could easily become totally legal by 2012

Plus more and more states are allowing it medically.

Remember, if you smoke marijuana or not, its not about the drug, because I can get marijuana very easily whether or not its legal to smoke it, its about our freedoms in this country and how the government is trying to control it.

If you are still unconvinced, little one,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvzX8aNwxgM
watch.

Isn't he like 11? Either way he seems to know nothing about this topic

actually one of my family members has been smoking it 30+ years and he still has abs.....

although he is a vegetarian....
----

"Dude im so freakin hungry..." "Carrots!"

i dont smoke it but i believe it should be legal, just maybe not while in a vehicle.. it could possibly be a good thing to have some of the dealers go under. besides, if its cheap enough to buy at a pharmacy at least you would know its clean right? ive heard people somtimes find their weed laced with other stuff that could potentially kill somone..

Magnus, your argument is ridiculous. Fine, you can smoke it, whatever. The world doesn't care whether or not an 18 year old is smoking "pot."

It makes you look cool, calms you down (just like yoga, sleeping, all kinds of legal medicine, etc.) and overall improves the economy. Yeah! Let's all have a fucking marijuana party so I can impregnate your daughter, but you wouldn't care, hahaha!

Who gives a shit if you're a "responsible smoker" - people will abuse it anyways. Just think of what happened to McDonalds. People will eat it all up, then sue "Mcshit" for "stuffing food down their throats"

Pretty soon "respondible" marijuana smokers will start blaming the government that Marijuana has given them lung cancer, heart problems, etc. I hope you get my point. If someone dies of smoking marijuana, fuckit, they did the world a favor by killing their wasted body. It's cool, calling me "kiddo."

It's the truth, right. Anything less than the truth is irrelevant.

Well lets make Cigarettes and Alcohol illegal while we are at it... It is just not a relevent argument.
I do not smoke marijuana but I believe that it should be legalized at least for medical purposes. We give much more dangerous drugs to people such as Oxycontin.

What? Like an over-the-counter medicine? Fine. I can live with that.

MY argument is ridiculous? you're comparing smoking marijuana to ONE case of people sueing McDonalds because it made them fat? WTF?

OTC painkillers like generic oxycontin are significantly more damaging to your body, and unlike marijuana, you can easily develop an addiction to them.

I don't think people smoke marijuana to be cool, I think they do it because they enjoy it. Also it is possible to ingest thc from cannabis without inhaling cancer causing smoke, via vaporization, which is something alot of medical users use anyways. I doubt you even read my entire post or watched the video, i'm done arguing this with you because you don't seem capable of producing anything with ludicrous responses.

Oh, I'm cool with it now. At least the world will be enlightened and people will be able to distinguish the "closet" smokers from the "thugs."

It's actually a good thing, now that I think about it. ie: My friend John was smoking pot, but I didn't know. He decides to drug me up and get me addicted, etc. Marijuana rules.

id rather smoke pot then the cigs i been smoking....

I'm not a user of marijuana, but I definitely think that if
it would have been legalized, the crime rate would have decreased.
Also it would be cheaper and smuggling would decrease.
At last, it's still a plant

What crime rate would decrease? I don't really think that making it even cheaper to the general public is a good thing.
Also, it is just a plant, but there are lost of other drugs that come from plants that you probably wouldn't want legalized.

In a second thought it's just the smuggling that ofcourse would have been decreased,
and i agree about my statements in my earlier post, it sounded more like the usual statements we are aware of.

We have enough problem with drinking connected to for example violence.

I love how everything i've said goes in one ear and out the other, it doesn't matter the EFFECTS of legalizing it, the government has no right/authority to outlaw it to begin with, they aren't tyrants, there is no absolute ruler with no limits here... we have a constitution

lol, I'm not really sure what you're trying to say there... I think it is the constitution that does give them the authority to outlaw it.

I think that the effects of legalizing something does matter. You wouldn't want something that would have negative effects on society (not necessarily this) legalized would you?

My "proper" convoluted post:
For dudes like xyberforce:
In herbal form, marijuana resembles a coarse tobacco. The dried leaves are browny-green, often chopped up with or without stems. The sap of the plant is also dried to extract resin, "hash", which takes the form of a dark brownish or blackish lump or block. This is also sold in powder form.
Very rarely, marijuana appears in liquid form, as a dark oily tincture which can be added to drinks, or as an extra ingredient in home-baked confectionary (eg hash brownies, gold cookies... blaa blaa). All forms can alternatively be mixed with tobacco.
The effects of weed on a person are unpredictable. A user, especially one who is already depressed or worried, may become withdrawn and experience deepening anxiety. Strong doses may produce deep drowsiness or cause a "trip" - hallucinations or oddly/ brightly colored vision. One may become prone to creeping or crawling sensations.
The main mind-altering component is THC, the canabinoid that triggers marijuana's main effects. This causes a few minutes of rapid heartbeat in some people which is dangerous for sufferers of heart-related issues.
A bigger threat to more users is irritation of the lungs and respiratory airways, since users tend to inhale pot deeply and hold for as long as possible.
Although a direct link with lung cancer is unproven, pot smoke does contain carcinogens. But then again... doesn't everything? Chips, pork, sunlight, hair dye.... Practically everything is carcinogenic but that doesn't mean it isn't acceptable to use these things at a moderate level.
It could be argued that marijuana tinkers with hormones which it does, but it has never caused any serious or long term damage. Also, contrary to popular belief, marijuana doesn't cause birth defects. Still, unnecessary drug use is always a bad idea for a pregnant lady.
Unlike most recreational drugs, it is impossible to OD on marijuana. Getting off pot is also much easier than other drugs. All you need to do is stop. Anytime. There are no withdrawal symptoms. No cravings. No headaches. No cold turkey.
There is no convincing scientific evidence that pot causes psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults. Some marijuana users experience psychological distress following marijuana ingestion eg panic, paranoia. Such experiences may be frightening, but the effects are temporary. In extreme cases, marijuana can cause toxic psychosis. This occurs rarely and even this only lasts for a few days.
There is very little evidence based on serious scientific research to say that cannabis use affects the long or short term memory of users or that cannabis has many of the physically damaging effects often reported in the popular press.
There have been some major studies in New Zealand involving many thousands of young people. They showed that the alleged links between cannabis and schizophrenia only existed in people who had a family history of mental illness.
Additionally, moderate smoking of marijuana appears to pose a minimal threat to the lungs. Marijuana users typically smoke much less often than tobacco smokers, and over time, inhale less smoke. As a result the risk of serious lung damage should be lower in mj smokers. There have been no reports of cancer related solely to mj, and in a large study presented to the American thoracic society in 2006, even heavy users were found not to have any increased risk of lung cancer. Unlike tobacco users, heavy mj smokers exhibit no obstruction of the lungs small airway. This means that people cannot develop emphysema from smoking marijuana.
I found this on some site that
I found this sooo irritating because it is such a load of damn bullshit and its overuse of the word "may" makes it sound like whoever wrote it was an absolute knob.
Marijuana is not a harmless drug but many overestimate its hold by far. THC helps people with epilepsy, alzheimer's and multiple schlerosis. It can be used for pain relief far more safely than drugs such as morphine and meth. It helps people with AIDs to keep hold of a steady body weight, reduces side effects caused by chemotherapy for cancer patients and can potentially be a tremendous help for a lot of people.
It has been used for centuries all over the world as a "chill out" drug. It was used by Queen Victoria to relieve period pain. Smoking a joint every now and again helps very much to relieve the stress of everyday life and decreases a person's chances of some psychological illnesses such as mania.
A recent experiment by NASA involved closely following a few drugged spiders. One was given cannabis, others were drugged with caffeine, methyl hydrate, Benzedrine etc. and were allowed to create their webs. The only spider that came out with something normal was the cannabis one.
In addition, there is one fact that gives marijuana a big defence: nobody has ever died from smoking marijuana. Compare this with the number of people who die every year as a result of alcohol abuse and tobacco related issues.
In the minds of many people - parents, teachers and politicians - cannabis is a "gateway" drug. It opens the door to the use of other much harder drugs such as E and coke. This is a complete myth.
A major study published in 2001 by the Centre for Economic Policy Research in the UK showed that for most people the use of marijuana does not lead to the use of anything else. This was based on information from 17 000 people over a ten year period. They lived in Amsterdam , where cannabis can be used legally. The people who had moved on from cannabis to harder drugs had a genetic tendency to become addicted easily. If they hadn't tried drugs they may aswell have been alcoholics.
For example, almost all heroin users were originally cannabis users. This sounds as if cannabis leads to heroin use - but hang on a minute. This is not a matter of cause and effect. Almost all cannabis users were originally smokers but we don't claim that tobacco leads to cannabis use. In fact the vast majority of weedies do not move on to other drugs.
Any "gateway" effect seen is where marijuana is illegal and users have to get their dope from dealers who will also try to push crystal meff, lady snow...etc to make a bigger profit.
In this case, legalizing marijuana would prevent youngsters from having to get into contact with dealers in order to get pot.
In a sense, making marijuana illegal will never stop people using it. It only allows it to become a black market good and beyond official control. Legalizing marijuana would be a way of controlling it and ousting the social problems that have shrouded it for so long.
Selling mj over the counter would probably mean that companies would only be able to make 200-300% profit unlike dealers who can make ten times as much, or whom usually get it for free.
Putting a tax on mj, like tobacco would give the government bigger scope for making money which can be put back into the country.
In my opinion, marijuana should be made legal. Not only because it could be a great medical help to many people but also because it is only a plant! Legalization is inevitable once the scientific evidence gets to a point that can't be ignored.

What i'm trying to say is

When they outlawed alcohol they made a constitutional ammendment, which they later repealed because prohibiton of "illicit" substances never works.

There has been no constitutional ammendment for this.

It sought, by law, to make the whole Nation into enforced teetotalers and to put an end to all evils associated with drinking. It sought to eradicate a taste deeply rooted in the habits and customs of a large part of the population through outlawing the business that ministered to its satisfaction (Hu, 1950: 48).

only one m in amendment and its: prohibition
-----
anyways, there is no constitutional amendment yet.... thats what alot of people are aiming for... so who knows....

What kind of a reply is that? no substance. If there is no amendment there is no grounds for it being illegal. Making an ammendment now would be admitting that it had been wrongly made illegal for over half a century.

There are always illegal parallels made. What about legal ones?
The Si-Fi show Sliders influenced me to cook this up:

Like Sugar? What if Sugar where illegal? Grandmas would be getting locked up for having "illegal candy operations."
How many workers would be out of a job? From the field worker to the consumer? C&H? Pillsbury? How would the Nations economy suffer?

Drug dealers would be world leaders. Slip a little meth in the Meth-Pops, and sell them to little Timmy and he's hooked on a sweet little energizing treat for all of eternity.. all for the price of stealing from his moms purse!

As far as the health aspect goes: How much money goes into treating people who can not sustain healthy diets and end up consuming to much sugar and contracting diabetes? How many people die from "sugar related" deaths each year?

Would they test your blood sugar to make sure you weren't driving under the influence?


I realize I'm asking for you to stretch your imaginations here a bit, but seriously think about it: The government "Allows" us to harm ourselves and drain on the public as a whole (health care) by not forcing healthy diets, why cant we express our freedom of choice with our recreation as well?

I believe if Marijuana were legal that would take some of the heavy restraints off Hemp. Hemp is another thing that has not been mentioned in this forum that is an obvious perk to society as outlined in "The Emperor Wears No Clothes"
By Jack Herer (http://www.jackherer.com/chapter02.html)

I feel there is big money behind keeping Marijuana Illegal. The Tobacco and Alcohol business' as well as the cotton and deforestation industry's.
There are also wonderful health benefits that co-inside with hemp as consumption.

As a personal note:
I first tried smoking pot the summer before my junior year in high school. A friend offered me some and i thought, "Why not?". I tried it a few times and, though it was fun, I found myself more paranoid and edgy at work and at home. I never was a good student, but that had nothing to do with any foreign substances. I remember my self as a pretty depressed kid for the most part, and never really enjoyed anything i did. I've been smoking pot the last 2 years on and off, and for the last 6 months pretty heavy. Recently I thought I'd research the adverse effects of Marijuana and found minimal reason (aside from legality) to quit.

In my experience marijuana is a mood enhancer. If your unsure of yourself in social situations after use, then avoid the drug. It does slow reaction time, and it is sometimes impossible to multi task. I find it curbs my rage, and people say it makes me much more fun and open to experience things. I'm talking about physical activities here like snowboarding not harder drugs.

My position on harder drugs is: education. Tell kids what happens when you abuse things. I'm all for graphic pictures. Nothing says: "Don't drink and drive!" like Drunk Driver Death images. And nothing detoured me more from even considering doing harder drugs than a drug addicts drivers license pictures shown in succession from 18-35.. Talk about tearing your body up!

I have yet to see solid evidence on how pot ruins lives as long as the, "do on to others as you'd have them do on to you" rule applies. Obviously smoking should only be allowed in designated areas, and sold to persons over 21, more than 500 ft from school districts.

I do think Marijuana should be legal, taxed and traded abroad. It could bring America prosperity in the form of exports as well as tourism. It would create a new domestic market that would seriously improve the economy. I don't think we are to far off from at least decriminalization because 3 states have already tried to legalize it and many states have laws in effect to allow medical marijuana.

I believe it would be an intelligent move for America to put a Bud Friendly president in office. I feel a lot of government money could be saved at the federal level, and it would also inspire Mexico (and maybe even Canada,) to fallow suit. After all, I'm pretty sure the US is the reason the majority of the world started its ban on Marijuana.

I don't think getting growers (at least locally speaking) to comply would be a big issue. Growers generally like to move more "Product" quicker. So the Government could buy from the grower per pound, tax and distribute to the market. I don't think any residual black market would occur as long as the government kept the tax low enough. Growers would hate to sell illegally if there was a more suitable route.

Pot is a weed. Plain and simple. But instead of fight that fact, I say we use it. Use it to stimulate the economy. People growing a plant earns money. People like to spend money they earn! Obvious bonus' for the consumer economy.

Another thing the government could do to promote individual wealth is encourage people to grow hemp. Hemp can be made into anything from building materials to bio-diesel. If you had people grow hemp and sell at a local co-op by the pound. You could then turn around and sell that hemp to different industries for consumer products. Allowing us further economic stability.

In an effort to keep this concise (a laughable concept at this point) I won't hardly mention the positive effects of people growing more plants would do for the ecosystem, though its been speculated that growing hemp could reverse the effect we've made with our oil dependency.

I don't know, but I think the majority of the world could care less if I smoke a joint as long as I'm not driving at the time or while intoxicated.

With that said:
Pure Pressure is for the weak minded and weak willed. If you want to try it, try it. If you don't, DON'T! All I was doing was being nice and offering. Puff, Puff, Pass... Right? No point in being selfish, Life is to short.

I look forward to the criticisms!
-TJ

Excellent post. I didn't even bother bringing up hemp because people just ignore it, there are so many facets on this. I'll be sure to use your sugar analogy next time I debate about this elsewhere.

my opion is that MJ should be legalized and alcohol illegal because MJ does NOT kill people but alcohol DOES KILLS people



Dude i agree with you 100% besides work and school i get high and it dont impair abilitys what so ever.

I don't remember saying that... it does impair my abilities considerably: I cant multi task; and doing anything that isn't routine (like problem solve, or trouble shoot), I kinda get a one track mind. It doesn't make me lazy, just easily entertained. If I'm out working in the yard for instance; I am perfectly capable of putting on some good tunes and removing the fallen tree; but if the phone rings, I'm less apt to answer it because I don't want to loose focus, or have my environment interrupted. On the other hand, if I'm working with some one and they keep me talking, or I get a good conversation going I can talk some ones ear off comfortably, but don't ask me to drive too because I'll be to intent on listening to the conversation and forming opinions to keep hold of the wheel. Bad news.

"Pot might not kill you, but your stupidity could. Fly safe."

Marijuana should neither be legalized and taxed or illegal. It should just be a plant.
The fact is, it is relatively harmless. Use of marijuana has never killed anybody to date, to even overdose to the point of being sick, is a rather hard thing to do.
Yes, I am a user of marijuana.
No I am not defending it to feel better about my "addiction".
Marijuana is not addictive in itself. Some people may claim to be addicted, but thats due to what is called an addictive personality. I mean, some people are addicted to watching TV, or even certain everyday foods. You can be addicted to anything; therefore using the "addictive qualities" as a reason to keep it illegal is rather irrelevant.

Studies have shown that even people who use marijuana even daily, have very minor if any effects on their brain, you could cause more damage by even falling down and hitting your head. So that there rules out brain damage as a reason to keep it illegal.
Though I do agree that there should be limits for children, because even fumes from cleaning products can greatly effect a developing brain, that does however bring me to another point. Using the drug while pregnant. what are the effects? none. Studies have been done, and years later when the children are grown up, if anything any effects on the child are positive.
I am in NO way encouraging this; but also driving while under the influence of marijuana is safer than alcohol. In fact there are many people who have better motor vehicle skills while stoned, and I have first hand experienced someone driving perfectly while stoned, who is otherwise one of the worst drivers I have ever seen or driven with.

As for the use of marijuana as anti-depressant I think that is a WONDERFUL idea. I have been on SEVERAL anti-depressants over the years and in the end, the withdrawal symptoms from them are worse than the original problem. Or there is the fact that your body has to adjust to the change caused by antidepressants, take it from me it can be very not fun, on caused anorexia (not to be confused with anorexia nervosa which is self inflicted) for over a month. I had no appetite and could not eat anything without feeling like it was going to come right back up.

If you honestly believe that if marijuana is legalized so will other hard drugs like cocaine and heroin will be legalized, well what's happening in your head? clearly not rational thought. These other drugs are illegal because they DO cause obvious harm, they don't even need the studies to prove it.

Many other drugs are made synthetically which is more dangerous. Even still, the most dangerous part of any drug is not knowing what's in it. For instance Pure Ecstasy is actually relatively harmless however finding Pure ecstasy is often near impossible, it is usually mixed with ridiculous chemicals or other very harmful substances. If marijuana was decriminalized, we could even grow our own plants peacefully and have peace of mind knowing exactly what's there. And to MrTouz who said drug dealers would be selling cocaine, LSD, and other hard drugs, it would really depend on where you are living what would break out. Personally I think Shrooms would become the next biggest problem, they are fairly easy to grow and also a natural plant, I doubt legalization of Shrooms would really happen as they do actually cause proven minor side effects and the fact that they can be a hallucinogen can cause some people to do things that can harm them or others.

Yes, while you are on it you do feel effects, people don't usually go to work or school drunk, those who do usually get punished, just as should be the same as pot. Its a social item just as alcohol. Some people like to sit down, relax have a beer or a glass of wine, they could just as easy sit down and smoke a small joint, or even better get a pipe its easier and cleaner.

just one thing, from personal experience. It does a WAY better job clearing the symptoms of the common cold than any cold medicine I have ever found to date.

all in all, its a plant. So why not just treat it like a plant, some people even just like the way they look, they can be a beautiful plant and can even make great hedges. For people who want to use it as the drug, they could grow their own plants and be safe, people could make money selling them as plants just as people do selling tulips or any other plant. for people who don't want to grow it but want to use it, people who do grow it could still sell it. Just not to children.

The only problem I can see involving Marijuana is Children, but as long as you educate them the right way they will know what is right to do. Yes if you grow it they could take it and smoke it, but hey, my Mom makes homemade Wine, which I always could have stole when I was younger too. We also have a liquor cabinet and so do most houses of people I know. Alcohol causes just as much if not more damage to children as pot so really, give up on keeping it legal, more people die from food poisoning and more people get brain damage from slipping on wet floors. And in the end, it will always be the choice of the user to smoke, or not to smoke.

heavens no. It does the body harm, and the people around it harm.

Prove it.

yes i forgot that one - We have the right to bare drugs =D


no but i see your point alot of shit that goes on today they foudning fathers tryed so hard to make not happen =/

and no it does NOT do any body harm at all lol infact every drug including alchohol is above it , i beleive its like 0% death rate =/


Now i see what you mean by "taking you out of your head" and it only really does that when you abuse it , and yes if they did legalize in it would be abuses as alchohol is. But if i had to choose I would choose weed over alcohol anyday... its healthier in most ways....

Just leave Marijuana Illegal, if it was legal then there would be more homeless people and more theft because they would need money to buy it off of the dealers.

In the end there would be more crime.

and alcohol does any different...? and the only way your getting addicted to weed is if you have an addictive personality wich if that is the case you can get addticted to such things as food....

Can people stop going on about the drug dealers? They will be fine! they could maybe open up their own business of selling.
Fact is more people smoke pot than there are drug dealers, and most people don't like to have to go to sketchy drug dealers, if they could just go somewhere safe to get it it would make everyone feel much better. Don't get me wrong i managed to find a not sketchy drug dealer whom i enjoy but she has two other jobs, every drug dealer I have known has had other jobs, so they will be fine just let it be legal for the majority of the people not the like 1 of 10 dealers who has dead ended themselves into not being able to get a real job.

I used to smoke weed, for about two straight years. Recently the court systems stepped in, therefore i no longer do. So I should have quite a fair opinion.

In my opinion, it should be made legal, with tight restrictions of course. I think a three-gram limit is fair, but most states/countries limit it to, I believe, two grams? There has still yet to be any research proving that marijuana has substantial health affects on a habitual user. It has not been proven addictive, nor fatal. Of course, if this plant were to ever become legal, the driving under the influence law still needs to be affective, as well as an age limit. It should be illegal, I believe, to sell marijuana without a license.

If marijuana possession was legalized, petty misdemeanor rates would significantly decrease. It's been proven that quite recently more than 8,400 U.S. prison inmates were serving time for a misdemeanor marijuana possession, in any amount. More than 4,000 of those were prisoners incarcerated on their first drug offense.

Doesn't seem to me that someone possessing two grams of marijuana should be jailed?

Well Marijuana is a type of medicine its just others abuse it. But I will not try it I'll just find some other medicine I don't want to be addicted to it.

I say we legalise it all and if someone overdose's, we'll call it natural selection.

Jacob.

You can never smoke to much, and if so, you just go in a nice deep sleep xD

Anyway, doesn't matter. Here in Belgium, it's not legal, so it's one of the more bigger drug problems. Above us, in Holland, it's legalised, and creates lots of drug tourists and they just go deal the harder stuff. Always the same, legal or not.

I didn't read most of this... but any ways.... I think that it should either be legalized or we should actually try to do something about it.

no

What I meant was about drugs in general, not just weed.

Jacob.

all my respect for you just flew out the window

never ever marijuana should be legal !!!

yes, it's safe unless abused. It's the users who should be warned to use it properly and moderately. But personally I do not take marijuana. I just use cohiba cigars for my daily use.